Before Real Life Became Reality
by elightate
Summary: What happens when a member of the Gallagher family dies? How will they cope with the grief?  This is seat a few years back in the past...Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: it's not related to any of my sequels. Hope you enjoyed and Remember to review: and tell me what you think:)! A massive massive thankyou to my wonderful friend MissShawnaAlice for the help and support she has given me and for letting me run this by her first! xxx

Chapter one:

Lachie was lying in his bed at his brothers house, he'd decided to get out of home and live with Dean much to his disliking. Since their mum had become sick they hadn't had much time to sleep, they didn't feel as though they could sleep, not with what was happening with their mother. Twenty-four year old Lachie was fresh out of the army medical training and was starting to plan his career.

Chase was lying on the couch at Dean's house, he hadn't been able to sleep all night and it was now three a.m, in the morning. He curled up in a little ball and tried to sleep. Nineteen year old Chase had everything he could ask for, he had the looks that made him popular, the looks that brought girls and he was smart enough to land himself into the top university for a scholarship in a degree in emergency care and medicine.

Dean was lying in his bed looking up at the ceiling, he was the eldest brother of the three and had to be the one to protect and play the role of the bigger brother to both of them, but at the moment trying to tackle work, his brothers and his mums sickness was proving to be difficult. Twenty-eight year old Dean was already all set up for his career, he'd been a part of the Rescue Special Ops field for now seven years, he'd started of as work exp kid and he'd grown to become part of the team and worked closely with his high school friend Vince.

Chase awoke from his light sleep to footsteps down the hallway, he looked up to see his brother standing before him, "Can't sleep?" Lachie asked concerned, he knew that none of them could sleep, but he was more worried about the effects it would have on his young brother. Chase just shook his head and slipped further under the blanket on the fold out couch. Lachie walked over and got a drink from out of the fridge and took a seat on the edge of the bed just beside Chase's feet. "What are you watching?" He asked Chase trying to get a conversation started

"Nothing, I fell asleep for a bit, I felt sick." Chase told him, he sat up and handed the remote over to Lachie "Here, you can choose something" he said trying to cover up the crack of sadness that struck his voice halfway through

"Thanks" Lachie responded taking the remote out of Chase's hand. "Why don't you try and get some sleep for me?" he asked

"I can't sleep Lachie" Chase admitted

"I know Chase, neither can I. But If you don't get some sleep soon, you'll get sick" Lachie explained to Chase. He was concerned now that Chase said he felt sick and knew that he was taking his mothers sickness the worst out of all of them and the fact that their mother couldn't even remember her three boys any more sent shivers up his spine. Lachie turned back to look at Chase a few minutes later and noticed he'd fallen into a light sleep, it wasn't proper but at least he was getting some rest, he lied down at the bottom of Chase's feet and closed his eyes as well.

The morning snuck up fast and Dean hopped up tiredly, he stumbled down the hallway of his house and headed out to the kitchen, he turned to see Chase asleep and Lachie down at his feet asleep. He laughed at how they were sleeping and turned on the jug, the whistling sound made Lachie wake up, he groaned and stretched before rubbing his eyes to get all the unwanted sleep out.  
>"Morning" Dean said pouring the boiling hot water into the cup<p>

"Morning" Lachie said getting up and looking at Chase's sleeping body "At least his getting some rest" he noted as he made his way over to the kitchen

"Yeah. What were you doing sleeping with him anyway?" Dean asked raising his eyebrow

"I woke up and found him awake out here so I sat with him for a bit then he fell asleep, then I fell asleep" Lachie explained

"Was he okay?" Dean asked concerned as he took a seat at the dining table and pulled up the newspaper to read

Lachie sighed "I don't think so plus he told me he felt sick, so now I'm worried his picked up something and his not resting enough"

Dean nodded listening to what Lachie was telling him "Well, will let him sleep until he wakes up, then will go see mum"

"I might go have a shower" Lachie said skuling the rest of his coffee and regretting it from the bitter taste it left in his mouth.

"Alright." Dean nodded and continued to read his newspaper.

A few hours later, Dean and Lachie were still sitting at the table when they heard the moving of sheets, Chase was slowly waking up. He opened his eyes and adjusted them to his surroundings.

"Good afternoon" Dean joked

"What?" Chase asked confused, he looked down at his watch "Shit. I slept in, why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you needed your rest" Lachie explained to him. Chase shook his head angered and started lifting up the sheets and blankets violently as he tried to find some clothes to wear. Lachie walked over and picked up the blanket that was all tossed up around the sheets.

"What are you doing?" Lachie asked holding up the blankets

"Getting clothes to wear!" Chase shouted at the top of his lungs, he reached up for the blanket and pulled it forcefully back down onto the bed

Dean walked over and pulled clothes out from a bag Chase had packed previously, "It's alright, their just here" he said handing over the clothes to Chase., he snatched them off Dean and pounded down the hallway and into the bathroom slamming the door behind him.

"His taking it hard" Dean sighed as he started to pull the blankets and sheets of the couch

"I know and I can't get angry back at him, he'll break if I do" Lachie responded as he pushed the bed back into the couch and chucked the cushions back onto the couch.

Chase ran the shower and sat down on the tiles, letting the warm water wash over his body.. He rested his head against the wall and let the tears flow freely from his eyes. This was the only place he felt he could cry and just let everything come out. The water rushed down on his face collecting the tears as they progressed down his cheek. Slowly turning off the taps to stop the water, Chase found himself ending the shower. He dried off and got changed, wiping the tears away so it'd look like he hadn't been crying.

He made his way out to the kitchen, "You going to have something to eat before we head off?" Dean asked

Chase shook his head "No, I'm not hungry"

"You need to eat something Chase, please?" Lachie asked nearly begging for him to get some food into his system

"I'm not hungry" Chase said raising his voice

"Mum wont be -" Lachie was saying before Chase cut him off

"Mum doesn't even remember who I am, so save it!" Chase shouted angered before he walked out and waited by the car. The brothers exchanged glances before following him out. Dean unlocked his car and they climbed in, Chase at the back, Dean driving and Lachie sitting in the passenger side. No one spoke a word, they were all too focused on getting there and Dean and Lachie didn't want to make Chaser more agitated then he already was.

Lachie was the first to break up the silence, "So Chasie...Have you decided whether you want to live on campus or if you're going to travel up to the Uni?" he asked turning around to face Chase

"I haven't even thought about it" Chase admitted quietly

Dean raised his eyebrow "You are still going to go and study emergency care and medicine right?" he asked

"Yeah, I am. But at the moment I cant deal with that" Chase said quietly as he brought his knees up to his chin

"Uni starts in about three months, why don't you get an application?" Dean asked

"Can we please, please stop talking about this?" Chase asked borderline tears coming out

"Okay, yeah we can leave it" Lachie said knowing what would happen if they kept going

Chase nodded trying to gesture a thank you to Lachie, he smiled and set his eyes back on the road in front of him.

A few minutes later they'd arrived at the hospital, Chase got out and stood waiting for Dean and Lachie, they all walked up to their mothers ward. They passed the nurses station and were walking down the corridor that felt like it just kept going and going. A doctor walked out of their mothers room, an doctor whose face had a saddened look written all over it that quickly turned into a professional look when he saw the brothers.

Dean knew exactly what he was about to say, he'd been waiting months for this day to come he stopped walking and just stood there.

Lachie had seen his face as well and he knew what was about to happen, he stopped right beside Dean.

Chase had completely missed the look on the doctors face he kept walking until he didn't feel his brothers close by any more, he turned to see them just standing there. "Are you guys coming?" he asked

"Chase" Lachie said walking up to him

"What?" he asked unaware of what he was about to find out, he kept on walking when Lachie didn't reply

"Chase, stop" Lachie said again. He didn't want a doctor to break the news to him but now it was going to be too late for that when a doctor appeared in front of Chase

"Mr Gallagher" The doctor greeted warmly

"Yes, how's my mother?" Chase asked

"Uh...I'm very sorry" The doctor was beginning to say, Chase gave him a weird look and was joined by Lachie who put his hand up on Chase's shoulder. The doctor went to carry on "You're mothers heart stopped beating, I'm very sorry we were unable to resuscitate her"

Chase felt his pulse becoming faster and faster, Lachie looked at Chase and noticed his colour had dropped increasingly in the last few seconds. An un settling feeling of sickness erupted in Chase's stomach and he felt everything start to blur into one. He gripped onto the top of Lachie's arm for support before he started to fall towards the ground

"Chase!" Lachie shouted as he caught Chase in his arms. Within a few seconds Chase had collapsed within seconds of hearing the news. Lachie and the doctor bent down over Chase as his brother lied on the floor. Lachie looked around and saw Dean was no where to be found. "Come on Chase" Lachie urged his brother as he shook his shoulders trying to wake him up.

The doctor shone a light in his eyes, "His collapsed from shock, he should come round soon. Will get him into a bed and check him out"

Lachie slightly nodded and Chase started to come round, "Hey" Lachie said to his little brother "You feeling okay?" he asked. Chase shook his head and rolled over trying to get up "Woah, just settle down a second" He got up peering straight into Lachie's saddened eyes

"Mum's gone, isn't she?" Chase asked sadly, tears starting to blur his vision

"Yeah mate...yeah" Lachie nodded and tried to hold back his own tears, right now he had to make sure that Chase was okay, especially after just collapsing. He slowly helped him up into a standing position

"I strongly advise that you let us give you a check up" The doctor said as he walked next to Chase who was clinging to Lachie for support as they walked over to a chair and took a seat

"I'm fine" Chase said sitting down, Lachie crouched down in front of Chase

"He just collapsed from shock" Lachie said to the doctor, undermining his wisdom and experience. He knew the test results would indicate the same thing so it didn't bother to make Chase go through all the blood tests and examinations.

"You feel okay?" Lachie asked concerned as he placed a hand on Chase's knee

"I feel like I'm about to be sick" Chase said quietly as he brought his knees up to his chin and buried his head in them

Lachie looked over and saw his Dad walking out of his mothers room, his face stained with tears, he saw saw his two boys and headed towards them. "I'm so sorry boys" Shane said trying to ease them

"Chase collapsed" Lachie said as a tear fell down his cheek

"What?" Shane asked concerned , he took a seat beside Chase. "Is he okay?"

"Not really no, none of us are" Lachie sighed and took a seat on the ground

Shane looked around "Where's Dean?" he asked . "Does he know?" he added

Lachie nodded his head "Yeah.. he does".

"I'll go find him" Shane said before he rubbed his sons back and then headed down the corridor.

"Chase?" Lachie asked. Chase just looked up at Lachie, tears flowing fast from his eyes that Chase could barely make out his brother in front of him, he nodded accepting for Lachie to carry on. "Do you want to go see mum?"

"Yeah" Chase's voice cracked as tears still flowed. He got up slowly leaning on Lachie for his first few steps before pulling away from him "I'm fine now" he said

They walked into their mothers room a nurse was in there getting her ready, "I'll let you guys have a moment" she said beginning to walk out of the room

Chase felt that same sickness rise back up into his stomach but this time it climbed further up to his mouth before he fell onto his knees throwing up. "Shit Chase" Lachie said bending down beside him. The door creaked open and Dean stood there shocked to see Chase throwing up on the floor.

"What happened?" Dean asked bending down

"He collapsed before from the shock and I think every thing's catching up on him now" Lachie said as he rubbed his brothers back soothingly

"Let's get him out and into some fresh air" Dean said before he and Lachie linked arms under Chase's and helped him up. They carefully walked him downstairs and sat outside in the fresh air. "Just try and take some deep breaths Chase" Dean said

"I'm sorry" Chase said quietly

"Chase you have nothing to be sorry about, we all deal with grief in different ways" Lachie explained

"No, I slept in and we never got to say goodbye" Chase told them

They both sighed "It's not your fault Chase. Please don't blame yourself" Lachie said concerned

"Come on, we have to go and be there for Dad" Dean said getting up. Chase nodded his head in recognition to what Dean had just said and got up as well. Out of the corner of his eye Dean saw his father walking towards them, "Will just stay here.." Dean said taking a seat again.

"Are you okay Chase?" Shane asked his youngest son

"You didn't call us..." Chase said sadly

"Called you?" Shane asked confused

"When mum stopped breathing, you didn't call us..." Chase told his father, he felt angry and sad all in one emotion. He felt like screaming at the top of his lungs and then he felt like huddling up in a little ball and crying till he had no tears to cry

"It all happened so fast Chase" Shane tried to explain to Chase

"I...I didn't get to say goodbye" Chase stumbled to say

"None of us did Chase, none of us" Lachie sighed before he sunk back into the chair next to his brothers. He knew that they had a long way to go to get over their grief and it was going to take a lot of time to help one another through the stages.

A/N:Hey! So this is only a short little story, won't be a big multi-chapter one. If you want another chapter, let me know:)

Reviewwwww. x


	2. Chapter 2

Just letting you all know, that I am moving across to the website that has been set up by MissShawnaAlice. If you want to see anymore stories or updates, you are going to have to move across to there. This chapter will be needed to be read from the website: Before Real Life Became Reality, Chapter two. So come across to see more of my work and updates on this story and Young Gallaghers.

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